(Word count = 873 plus 68 words for About the Author)

In my last column that appeared on October 19th, I told part of the story about how I recently lost my briefcase that had inside it my Macintosh laptop computer and my back up hard drive (containing valuable irreplaceable and sensitive information about my life, both business and personal), how I prayed for God's guidance, and the unusual recovery of the briefcase and contents within 24 hours.    Among the several responses from readers came an email to me from a retired man that led to several exchanges between us, including the below, which I hope readers find leads to more openness and understanding.

#1. To me from Mr. M on 10/20/06 at 5:47pm:

Mr. Sisco: - Regarding your article, I can understand your relief at recovering it, but I wonder if you realize how illogical it is to attribute the recovery of your lost briefcase to God?  If you had NOT recovered it, would you also have attributed that to God?  Would you have written an article blaming God for NOT letting you find it?  Not likely. Perhaps one thanking God for teaching you to be more careful?  Or maybe one blaming the Devil? If your favorite team wins do you also attribute that to God?  And if they lose, what then?  And if they win, how do you explain that to your friend who roots for the opposing team?  Does it mean God is on your side, not on his?  Clearly, in some instances the same outcome that you are thankful to God for may be bad for someone else - what then?. Ironically, even though they assert that He is all-powerful, I notice that people only attribute their GOOD fortune to God. When their baby dies they just say, "he works in mysterious ways" and "he's in a better place" rather than blame God.  Isn't He also to blame for the bad outcomes?    I'm sure your article's message would be well received by the majority of Americans.  But that is not a good thing for America, because it means that, despite all modern knowledge and vast educational opportunities, the average person is still superstitious and has little more capacity for clear thinking than the ancients, whose beliefs we dismiss as ignorant.   Shouldn't the beliefs we use to guide our lives make sense?

#2.   To Mr. M. from me on:10/20/06 - 6:20pm:

Dear Mr. M. -You make several excellent points.  Perhaps the way I wrote the article was confusing, and led you to draw inferences I did not intend.  For example, I do not believe, in general, or in this particular matter, that recovering my briefcase was as easy as "I prayed and I received."  Surely, that can be considered illogical for the reasons you offered.  But in this case, I believe my praying for help from God and my faith (be it valid or not) led me to awaken with a confidence that I would find the briefcase.  Then what unfolded was a series of inspired steps that led to its recovery (e.g. the idea about reward notices, a can-do attitude that the notices may indeed work, the hand-written note on each one "God Bless You" that may have influenced Samina to call me, etc.).  My praying can be seen by some as superstitious, yet others may see it as self-empowering.  Still others may interpret this event as the result of positive energy and near-telepathic communications from me to the community.  I am open for other interpretations - even one that says it was simply a matter of chance to recover it and a coincidence that I prayed.  Sure that is possible. And that is how I probably would have interpreted it during other stages of my life.  However, I am currently in a stage of my life (and perhaps it will not last through the remainder of my life, although I deeply hope it does) that I have a profound love of God and people, that I see God working through people as his/her/its agents, and that it is possible for ordinary people like me to access the power of a force beyond my own understanding to do something as simple, yet as miraculous, as smoothing the way for me to recover my briefcase by showing me the right actions to take, or at least for letting me have confidence in the ability to discover the right actions.  One of the reasons I do believe in God's involvement in our lives stems from several events that have happened in my life that are too miraculous not to be of God, or whatever name we ascribe to a force beyond ourselves.  I think I am one of millions of fortunate people who feel this way.  Perhaps one day you will too.  Thank you very much for your email to me. Best regards, Frank Sisco.

#3.   To me from Mr. M. on 10/20/06 at 6:53pm:

I appreciate your intelligent, reasonable, balanced reply.  I certainly recognize that belief (whether, as you say, valid or not) can, like a placebo, help one through difficult times, but until I see a convincing, rational basis for such (not likely) I'm happy to continue facing life without. All the best.  Existentially yours, Regards, Mr. M.

About the author.

Frank Sisco is a CPA and Personal Financial Specialist, and author of many articles about personal finance and issues of life and money.   His firm, Financial Management Corporation, is located in New Rochelle, NY.  Frank makes his home with his wife and daughter in New Rochelle, NY.  He can be reached at 914.740.4422 or by email at ideasmoney@aol.com.  Visit his website at www.LifeAndMoney.com, which contains this and prior articles.